Last night was great for the most part. Yesterday was SYATP 2001 and a number of the kids participated which is awesome. Unfortunately, the pastor's kids slept in. hmm...oh, well. So we talked a bit about what they prayed about and the like. Man, these kids have a LONG way to go. "Take heart, Ryan..." hehe They really need to see the love of Christ and learn how to share it. They seem pretty mean and...violent, I guess. I suppose it's pretty typical for jr. high, playstation playing boys to talk about death a lot...but I don't like it. They'll learn. :-) I picked up Justin at 6:55am to pray at our church flag pole since he's homeschooled and that went awesome. He seemed pretty excited about it and I think some of it had to do with the fact that it was just me and him.

So we showed up to youth group the same time as usual (Jerry, Josh, Kelsey, Amanda, Abby, Justin...Nathan) and ate hot dogs and soda. Played a bunch of foosball, as usual. Then at 6:30 we went over to Calvary to see Lost and Found. If you haven't heard or seen these guys...they are hilarious! I've seen them 6 or 7 times and they are so fun. (www.speedwood.com) They've started recording their concerts and I'll be on the cd of ours. I requested a "deep" song and they played it and made a big deal about it. It was very cool. :-) So, if you get the cd from Williams Bay, WI on 9/19/01, listen for the part where "Ryan" requests "Opener." That's me. hehe So we had a blast at the concert (which was packed out) and then I dropped them all off. Oh, I also got Amanda her own Bible and I'm hoping it'll be really helpful for her.

The only thing that was kinda sucky was that Nathan showed up for hot dogs and then just went home. I'm not sure what to do with him. I don't think his dad does, either. I'm sure it'll be a learning experience for all of us. I really wish he had come...oh, well. So, praise God for all the awesome things happening at youth group!

Overall, tonight was a good night at The Rock. Had 7 kids (Jerry, Kelsey, Josh, Amanda, Abby, Nathan, and Justin) tonight which was cool. Seeing our "core group" forming. The events of yesterday dominated our time tonight. I had them share their feelings and thoughts which went as can be expected with junior highers. Although, they did share and seemed to know they were safe. It doesn't seem to impact them very much. We spent some time in prayer for the country and it's painfully apparent that they still don't get prayer. I just don't know exactly how to approach that...how to teach it. I hope I can and that they receive it... I talked up SYATP, too. I REALLY hope they do it. I think I'm praying in front of the church with Justin who's homeschooled. He was like, "I don't get up til 7:30." I was all, "I'll pick you up at 6:50." yeesh. :-) He's a really cool kid, though. God, help me to stir something in them...Spirit, open their eyes...

I love youth work. Tonight was SO satisfying to see the kids have fun and learn and...

Before I get ahead of myself, I better describe what this is. I want to diary, at the very least, every Wednesday night to review what happened at youth group. I think it's really important to have documentation on what God's doing in our lives. I'll also try to introduce people and journal my feelings, struggles, successes, etc. There you have it...

Tonight I had 8 kids! Very cool. I was so excited to see them all, it was actually really funny. Nathan, Abby, Jerry, Josh, Justin, Kelsey, Amanda, and Ella. What a cute group of kids. We had dinner as usual and then talked about school since it just started. They ALL already had a favorite teacher and were excited to talk about it which surprized me. It was cool to hear them express their feelings. Then we played a big game of HORSE (which I lost to Nathan...grr) which they seemed to LOVE! They ran outside for it. hehe I noticed that a few of them were kind of mean to others and I addressed that at the end of our time together. When we came in, they were pretty restless but they calmed down really well when we started talking about worship. Our verse was Romans 12:1 tonight and they really seemed to get a lot out of it. I made half sheets with 3 fill in the blank points which also helped.

Overall, I was really pleased with tonight. I spoke what I felt God wanted them to hear and for the most part they seemed to understand. Our relationships are getting stronger as well. I really need to address the situation with Josh because he's only in 5th grade and has a very hard time grasping concepts and whatnot. It's hard because I don't want to "kick him out" but he doesn't belong here til next year. I hate that. Oh, well...

So...8 kids, fun games, spiritual growth...gotta love it. :-)